48 hours
by csi101
Summary: Follows on from when the ambulance left the nursery in Grave Danger but follows Grissom over the next 48 hours instead of Nick...but Nick is included in the last chapter!
1. Chapter 1

09:56

**A new story – and….yes, it's another post grave danger. This one follows on from when Grissom watched the ambulance going and was left with the rest of his team. Please read on and I would very much appreciate it if you could take just a minute to review the chapter. As I found I was running out of time to add chapters with my last story, I decided to write this whole story outright and post it all at once. **

CHAPTER ONE

Gil Grissom dropped heavily into the seat behind his desk, pulled off his glasses and threw them down before bringing a weary hand up to scrub at his face.

It had been one hell of a night.

Almost three hours earlier his team had recovered Nick from his underground hell and he had watched as the ambulance had ferried him off to hospital, flanked by Catherine and Warrick. He had stayed behind with the others to collect any remaining evidence, but it hadn't taken long before Ecklie had shown a rare glimpse of compassion and had sent them all home early to recover from a traumatic shift.

He knew that Sara and Greg had planned to go home via the hospital to check on Nick's condition, but he didn't think he could face it just yet.

He wasn't sure he could face Nick's parents again just yet.

He wasn't sure he could face Nick just yet.

He brought his other hand up to his face as well and rested his head against both of them.

God, he was exhausted. He was aching all over he was so tired.

He rested this way for several long moments before he heard movement in the doorway and someone clearing their throat to get his attention.

He sighed deeply at the intrusion and dropped his hands down.

Brass was standing there with two glasses in his hand and a bottle of scotch tucked under one elbow.

"You alright?" he asked quietly.

Grissom gave a brief shrug with his eyebrows. Truth be told he really didn't know.

Jim nodded. He didn't need words to understand.

He turned and kicked the door shut with a foot and walked to the desk, placing the glasses and scotch on the desk and pulling up a seat opposite his friend.

"Tough night." He said simply as he poured two generous slugs of scotch into each glass.

"Yeah." Said Grissom as he accepted the offered drink. "You can say that again."

The two men sat in silence for several moments while they each took a sip of the scotch. Grissom winced involuntarily at the bite of the alcohol.

"So." Said Brass, "Will the kid be alright, do you think, with that number of ant bites? I've never seen anything like it."

Grissom paused a moment, his lips against the rim of the glass as his mind slipped back to finding Nick. He had watched the video feed for hours and had seen the ants swarming over his young colleague. But nothing could have prepared him for the experience of seeing him in person – seeing the extent of the bites. Or hearing his cries of pain. It must have been agony. Grissom unfortunately knew the process of envenomation intimately through his years of study in entomology.

"He'll be OK." He said "He'll be sore for a few days, but the bites should heal without too much trouble. They'll be giving him medication to stop his body's allergic response and antibiotics to minimise the risk of developing infection when the bites rupture. He'll be alright."

Jim sat back in his chair and looked at the brown liquid in his glass. He wasn't convinced Nick would be alright after what he'd been through. He wasn't convinced at all.

He rather suspected that Grissom wasn't either – that he was trying to convince himself more than anything.

The two men sat in silence a while longer before Brass finally relented and asked the question that had plagued him since they had pulled Nick out of the ground.

"Do you think he'll recover psychologically?"

Grissom looked at him with an almost startled expression.

"Yes." he replied simply. "I do."

Jim gave a bewildered chuckle.

"How can you be so certain?" he asked incredulously.

Grissom shrugged.

"He'll go through the mandatory counselling," he replied, "and he's got a strong family to support him. And…he has us."

Brass nodded and looked back into his glass.

"Are you going to go see him this morning?" he asked.

Grissom sighed and took another sip of scotch.

"I think I'll leave him to spend some time with his family." he said simply. "I might try and see him when he gets home."

"Well," said Brass as he downed the last sip of his drink and stood up from his chair, "speaking of home….."

Grissom gave him a wan smile and handed over his empty glass.

"Thanks for the visit." he said as Jim left the office.

Grissom sat back in his chair and watched the detective trundle down the corridor until he disappeared around the corner. He had appreciated the scotch but it had done nothing to aid his battle against tiredness. He closed his eyes and brought a hand up to push fingers into his eye sockets. A headache had been pushing insistently at his temples since the ambulance left and it was becoming more and more difficult to ignore it. He had a momentary thought that he should take the opportunity to go home and get some sleep. But then, he didn't really think that sleep would be an option. Every time he closed is eyes he saw the same images. He could see Nick begging to be let out of the coffin. He could hear the sobbing. He could feel the racing heart pounding underneath his hand as held him down. And he knew how lucky the young man had been – and how lucky they had all been – that they had found him at all. And that they had found him alive.

He ran through a 'to do' list in his head. The next few days were going to be rough. They would be short staffed without Nick and he would have to plan how to cover the slack with Ecklie. He doubted Nick would be back at work within a month and that was a long time to be down a staff member. And he would have to go visit Nick. He may not be his boss anymore but he was still his friend.

He reflected on their history. Nick had arrived from Texas a green kid. New to Las Vegas and new to working as a crime scene analyst. He was short on experience but not on confidence and enthusiasm. He reminded Gil of a Labrador pup – boundless energy and eager to please but he needed a firm hand to keep him on track and focused.

"Gil?"

The sound of Catherine's voice startled him awake.

She gave him a tired smile.

"Hey." she said quietly.

Grissom scrubbed the sleep from his face self-consciously.

"Hey." he replied.

"Sorry to wake you." she said, coming further into the office and standing with her arms acting as a brace so she could lean against the back of the chair that Brass had been sitting in earlier. "I just thought I'd drop in on my way home and see if you were still here."

"How's Nicky doing?" he asked – tiredness making his voice gravelly.

Catherine raised her eyebrows briefly.

"He was pretty agitated on the ride to Desert Palms but was sleeping by the time I left." she replied. "His parents are with him."

Grissom rested his elbows on the desk and made a pyramid with his fingers – his eyes focusing on his hands.

"I'm surprised he was able to sleep at all." he murmured.

Catherine gave a humourless smile.

"I don't think it was an altogether natural sleep." she replied. "I think they'll keep him snowed under for the next few hours at least."

Grissom was struggling to concentrate he was so tired.

"God, Gil. You look exhausted. Go home. Get some sleep."

Grissom rubbed his eyes again subconsciously and hauled himself out of his seat.

"What's the time?" he asked.

Catherine glanced at her watch, even though she was acutely aware of the time.

"It's almost 10." She replied. "We'll be back here again before we know it."

Grissom smiled.

"Let's go." he said.

Catherine smiled and slipped an arm along Grissom's shoulders.

"Good job tonight, Gil."

Grissom gave a slight nod.

"Likewise." he replied

**Now before heading off to the next chapter, please, please review….**


	2. Chapter 2

10:39

**Chapter 2 up…..please read on!**

CHAPTER TWO

It was exactly as Grissom had predicted.

As desperately tired as he was, sleep was relatively elusive. He kept replaying in his head snippets of finding Nick. In particular, he replayed holding him down in that damn coffin. Pinning him down.

He could still feel the damp cloth of Nick's shirt underneath his warm hand. He could feel the too quick rise and fall of his young colleagues chest. He could feel Nick's clammy fingers clinging onto his own warm ones until he became aware of Warrick and reached out for his extended hand instead. But Grissom could still feel Nick's other hand, which had reached out and clung onto his upper arm as soon as the lid was lifted, clutching for better purchase and then gripping on for dear life.

The headache was back with a vengeance.

Worse.

It was turning into a migraine.

Grissom swung his legs out of bed and sat up, groaning as his vision swam and pain kicked him in his temples.

He made his way slowly out to the kitchen and fossicked in a drawer, pulling out a small clear pharmacy bottle. Pulling off the top of the bottle, he tapped the edge against the palm of his hand until a small white round pill dropped out. He tossed it into his mouth and pulled open the refrigerator door, taking a swig out of an open milk bottle before slamming the door closed and making his way back to bed.

He lay there for almost an hour before sleep finally carried him away.

He had never needed an alarm clock to wake him. He was always awake before the sun went down.

Always.

But not this time.

He had been dreaming. Again, something he normally didn't do.

He had been swimming. He didn't know where, but it was dark and deep and he was tiring fast. He couldn't stop swimming and he couldn't get out. A hand was reaching for his and he grabbed it. He looked up and saw Nick hanging onto him. Stopping him from drowning. He heard himself calling out to Nick. No. Pancho. He was calling out to Pancho.

Then it switched suddenly into where they had been only twenty four hours earlier. He was calling Pancho's name again. He was hooking the karabiner onto his belt. They were pulling him free. But this time Nick wasn't moving. The paramedics moved in and felt for a pulse. They hooked him up to a cardiac monitor which started wailing in response to no heartbeat. But the wailing wasn't like an alarm. It sounded like a phone. And the closer he got to consciousness, the more his brain started registering that it was a phone. It was his phone.

His hand reached out and his eyes focused just enough to make out Catherine's name on the cell's screen.

"Catherine?" he murmured, his voice sounded husky from sleep.

"Hey." She said, concern evident in her voice. "You OK?"

Grissom scrubbed at his eyes and pushed himself upright.

"I'm fine." He replied.

"Where are you?" she continued. "Have you just woken up?"

Grissom turned the bedside lamp on, suddenly noticing how dark the room was, and glanced at his watch.

10pm.

He had overslept by several hours. He was late for work

For the first time in his life, Gilbert Grissom was late for work.

He arrived at the lab almost an hour later feeling as if he hadn't slept at all. Catherine had covered for him and started the shift. Although they were still technically two separate shifts, they were working together to cover the workload.

Ecklie was waiting for him as he walked into his office and dropped his bag next to his desk.

He didn't mention Grissom's tardiness directly, but a poignant glance at his watch told him that it had not gone unnoticed.

"Catherine's already organized the nights caseload." He said bluntly.

Grissom nodded.

"Good." He replied. "I'll go find her and see what she needs me to do."

Ecklie looked as if he was about to challenge him but thought better of it. He paused for a short moment.

"Have you checked in on Stokes' condition today?"

The question threw Grissom momentarily. Was there a reason why he should have?

"No." he replied, shooting Ecklie a confused look, "Why? Is he OK?"

Ecklie folded his arms as he replied.

"He's stable." He replied, "I just thought you might have checked up on your team member."

Grissom looked at him with a mix of confusion and hostility. He paused before he replied, long enough to replay Ecklie's words through his head. Three words suddenly became clear.

_Your team member_.

Ecklie raised his eyebrows as the realization of what he had said showed on Grissoms face.

"You're giving me my team back?" he asked dumbly.

"Yes, Gil," Ecklie replied. "Effective immediately."  
"What about Catherine?" he asked. She had, after all, wanted so badly to become a supervisor.

"I've spoken with Catherine already." He replied. "She'll go back to working grave shift as well as Warrick and Nick, when he's cleared for a return to work. She'll be promoted to Assistant Supervisor and will keep her office and benefits."

Grissom nodded.

"Good. Thank you, Conrad."

"Just doing my job, Gil." He said as he turned and left the office.

Grissom headed down the corridor and stood in the entrance of Catherine's office. She sat behind her desk concentrating deeply on reading the file and didn't notice him standing there.

Grissom watched her a moment longer. There was no way he could do his job effectively without her help. He knew that.

She sensed being watched and looked up at him and smiled.

"Hey." She said. She looked tired but sounded bright enough. "You sleep well?"

He gave her an embarrassed grin.

"A little too well." He said wryly. "Have you been in to see Nicky tonight?"

She nodded, her smile fading slightly.

"He's been in and out all day apparently– not really lucid yet with all the drugs in his system. I dropped in briefly on my in tonight and he looked a lot more peaceful. He was sleeping though so I haven't been able to talk to him yet. His parents are taking it in turns to sit with him."

Grissom nodded but didn't comment.

"Are you planning to visit him?" she asked quietly.

Grissom dropped his head down. He wanted to go and see him with his own two eyes, but he didn't want to intrude. Nick had his parents with him.

He had his father by his side.

His real father.

"I'm sure he'd appreciate a visit."

Catherine's soft voice drew his head back up.  
"I was thinking I might wait until he gets home." he replied.

"Why?" Catherine asked.

Grissom frowned back at her. He hated it when she pushed.

But Catherine was not one to back down. Particularly with him. She didn't say anything further but kept eye contact with him.

"I let him down, Cath." He finally said, almost too softly to be heard.

This time it was Catherine's turn to frown.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "How did you let him down, Gil? If it hadn't been for you we may never have found him. He owes you his life."

Grissom sighed and looked away.

"I should have fought for him." He replied simply. "And Warrick too. I should never have let Ecklie split up our team."

Catherine continued to frown at him.

"How would that have changed what happened?" she asked.

Grissom gave a slight shrug. Truth be told it may not have changed anything. The events of the last couple of days might have still played out regardless.

"I should have stood up for my guys, Cath."

Catherine pushed herself up from her chair and went to his side, laying a gentle hand on his arm.

"Gil, you fought for him when it mattered. Our team's back together now. That's all that matters. It's time to look forward, not dwell on the past."

He nodded.  
She was right.

She was always right.

**OK another chapter to review….PLEASE!**


	3. Chapter 3

07:10

**Last chapter. Not a long story this time. **

CHAPTER THREE

The shift was long and tiring.

Grissom had found it difficult to concentrate and had been pulled up frequently by Catherine staring off into space, his mind flicking back to the nursery instead of focusing on the scene at hand.

The night had dragged into morning then into day. It was just after lunch when they finished up and were able to head home. Fortunately both Grissom and Catherine had the following night off and he hoped to catch up on some much needed rest - however he suspected there was something he needed to do first in order to finally get the elusive sleep he craved.

He arrived at the hospital and made his way up in the elevator to the general ward.

He glanced down at the handwritten scrap of paper in his hand and checked off the room numbers as he made his way down the corridor.

He got to room 4 and paused outside, taking a moment to look at his young colleague who was sitting up in bed, head resting back against the pillows, and quietly staring out of the window.

His parents were nowhere to be seen and Grissom felt a pang of guilt at his relief.

As if sensing being watched, Nick turned his head to the doorway and gave a wan grin when he saw his boss.

Grissom gave him an affectionate grin in return and ventured further into the room.

The multitude of ant bites had scabbed over with some looking a little sloughy where they ruptured. The limited movements as Nick moved told Grissom they were still very tender.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he moved to stand at the foot of the bed.

Nick gave a little shrug and winced when one of the bites bit back.

"A little sore, but otherwise OK." He said quietly.

Grissom very much doubted he was feeling 'OK'. Apart from the obvious pain, he was pale and tired and his hands still bore the remnants of the shakes which had consumed him when he had been pulled from his underground hell. But Grissom chose not to point this out.

"Where are your parent's" he asked instead.

Nick raised his eyebrows briefly and winced again as the dried scabs pulled at the corner of his eyes.

"They went back to my place. Had some stuff they had to work out back home."

Grissom nodded.

"I, uh, spoke with Ecklie today." He continued. "He's putting our team back together. You, Warrick and Catherine are coming back to grave."

He felt a kick of anxiety even saying the word 'grave', but Nick appeared to let it slide.

"Yeah?" he asked, tired surprise in his voice. "That's great. How's Catherine feel about that?"

Grissom shrugged.

"She'll become assistant supervisor. She's OK with it."

Nick nodded and fell silent again, dropping his head down for a few moments before looking back up and asking what had been playing on his mind.

"Gris, when will I get to come back to work?" he asked.

Grissom raised his eyebrows and looked back at him. It was typical of the Texan. He had gone to hell and back, was still sitting in a hospital bed, but all he could think of was work.

"You'll have to go through a counseling program before you can get back into the field." He said.

"Is that it?" Nick asked.

Grissom nodded and smiled at him.

"Take some time to get yourself back on your feet, Nick. Don't rush back. Your job will be waiting for you whenever you're ready."

Nick nodded.

"Mom and Dad want me to go home to Texas with them for a couple of weeks when I get outta here."

Grissom nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea."

Nick shrugged.

"Maybe." He replied. "I just kinda want to get back to normal, y'know."

"Don't push yourself too hard, Nick. Just take the time you need to recover. It's not a race to see how quickly you can bounce back. Take the time out with your family. Don't worry about taking extended leave – I'm sure Ecklie will find it in his heart to give you leave on full pay."

Nick chuckled.

"Ecklie has a heart?" he mumbled, bringing a hand up to rub gently at an itchy bite mark, "Who would have thought."

Grissom ducked his head down momentarily.

"I have to admit," he said, "he's been very supportive over the last couple of days."

Nick fell quiet again for a minute.

"Gris….." he was clearly struggling to ask the question he really wanted to.

"What's on your mind, Nick?" he asked gently.

"When you found me….how did you…." He started, pausing a moment longer, before adding "why did you call me Pancho?" he asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Grissom took a deep breath before making eye contact with Nick.

"I heard your father call you 'Pancho'." He replied lamely. "When we found you, I needed you to focus on what I was saying. I needed you to calm down and focus on my voice. I guess it was the only thing I could think of that might have worked."

Nick frowned a little and dropped his gaze down to his hands, fingers laced to stop the tremors and resting on the sheet covering his lap.

"I thought I was hallucinating again." he said terribly softly. "I thought you were my Dad."

Grissom ducked his head in sympathy. He couldn't imagine how traumatic that must have been.

"I saw myself in the morgue." Nick continued. His gaze had drifted off as the memories took over from the reality. "Doc Robbins was there with David and they were autopsying me."

His voice was devoid of all emotion and Grissom closed his eyes – not really wanting to hear.

"I thought I was dead." he said, "And then I came back and realized it was just a dream…and then I saw Warrick and knew I was being rescued…and then I heard your voice and thought it was my Dad and then I thought it had all been a dream again and I was still trapped. Nobody other than my Dad calls me 'Pancho'…I thought you were my Dad."

Grissom opened his eyes again and reached out to gently squeeze Nick's foot – a gesture meant as a sign of sympathy and to anchor him back to reality. Nick drew his gaze back to Grissom.

"I'm sorry I used your father's nickname." Grissom said quietly. "I didn't mean to add to your distress."

Nick shrugged.

"Was just my mind….playin' tricks on me." He said "'sides, I've always thought of you as sort of similar to my Dad, 'y'know."

Grissom gave him another affectionate smile.

"Well, from what I've seen of your father, that's big shoes to fill." He replied.

Nick nodded and pushed himself forward off the pillows – wincing yet again when some of the scabbed over bites pulled and grabbed at the healing skin.

He reached out a hand, which Grissom took, and the two men shook hands.

"Thanks for saving my life, Gris." He said quietly – sincerity evident in his eyes.

Grissom covered Nick's hand with his other one in a two handed handshake.

"You're more than welcome, Nick. It's good to have you back. Now, take the time you need to recover and come see me when you're ready to return to work." he said. "And call me if you need anything, OK? Even if you just need someone to talk to. My door's always open. Remember that."

He turned to leave but, having made it to the door turned back momentarily.

"Oh, and Nick," he said , "enjoy your time back in Texas."

Grissom arrived back at his apartment and tossed his car keys onto the kitchen counter. He kicked off his shoes and lay down the length of his sofa. Reaching for a remote control laying on the coffee table he pressed a button and brought his stereo system to life. Mozart. He was in the mood for Mozart.

Relaxed.

Happy with himself.

He closed his eyes and listened as the Toccata and Fugue started - soothing his senses.

His mind drifted away with the music.

And for the first time in three long nights, he slept soundly.

Dreamlessly.

THE END

**That's it – all done. Now please consider hitting that review button and leaving me a little note. Please. Many thanks in advance.**


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